T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Buys 233,417 Shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCOM - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,017,209 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after buying an additional 233,417 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 5.15% of Dime Community Bancshares worth $61,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 91.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 75,732 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 36,076 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 860,009 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $24,773,000 after purchasing an additional 9,978 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 52,499 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,512,000 after purchasing an additional 5,017 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Dime Community Bancshares by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,448 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Dime Community Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $92,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.27% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:DCOM traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.83. 52,155 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 262,242. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.79 and a beta of 0.96. Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.49 and a 12 month high of $37.60. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $27.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.55.

Dime Community Bancshares (NASDAQ:DCOM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.02. Dime Community Bancshares had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 5.43%. The company had revenue of $103.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $105.83 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dime Community Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.3438 per share. This is a positive change from Dime Community Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.32%. Dime Community Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 158.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DCOM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $36.00 to $32.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler upgraded Dime Community Bancshares from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Dime Community Bancshares from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $36.88.

Insider Activity at Dime Community Bancshares

In other news, Director Basswood Capital Management, L sold 9,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.20, for a total transaction of $306,228.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,147 shares in the company, valued at $1,158,986.40. This represents a 20.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Raymond A. Nielsen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.25, for a total value of $93,750.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,287,031.25. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,729 shares of company stock valued at $48,021. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Dime Community Bancshares Profile

Dime Community Bancshares, Inc operates as the holding company for Dime Community Bank that engages in the provision of various commercial banking and financial services. The company accepts time, savings, and demand deposits from the businesses, consumers, and local municipalities. It also offers commercial real estate loans; multi-family mortgage loans; residential mortgage loans; letters of credit; secured and unsecured commercial and consumer loans; lines of credit; home equity loans; and construction and land loans.